For advice and support call 07449 105 436 or email clem.richards@bonnydowns.org
Monday to Thursdays 9 am – 5 pm
Do you – or an older person you know – need advice, information or practical support? Our friendly and professional specialist advocates can help, and will treat your information in the strictest confidence.
Every day our Advocacy Service deals with calls from over 65s in need. We help people with a wide range of issues, from housing and health, to debt and disability, benefits and befriending, and more. Our advocates support people to say what they want, secure their rights, represent their interests and obtain services they need.
Why not call us today to make sure that you are receiving all the help and support available to you?
Who do we help?
Our advocacy service is for Newham residents aged 65+ who need help to make their voice heard and their wishes understood. We offer personal, confidential appointments by phone and face-to-face. We mainly work directly with people who are feeling vulnerable and want support around an issue. However, more and more carers, including partners and family members, are seeking support on behalf of their loved ones.
The nature of our support is dependent on the types of situations and issues that you need help with. If you aren’t sure whether advocacy can help, please contact us anyway. We’ll listen – and even if we’re not the right service, we’ll do our best to put you in contact with someone who can help!
For support, or to learn more, call 07449 105 436 today or email us
What support do we offer?
- Information about local services and support groups available to you
- Identifying your support needs and helping you access specialist services, including own charity’s where appropriate, e.g.
- Telephone Befriending
- Housing Matters
- Complaint Resolutions
- Specialist Welfare Benefits Support
- Debt Advice
- Help with completing paper and online forms for:
- Pension Credit
- Blue Badge
- Disabled Freedom Pass
- Emergency food and other practical support: #HelpNewham initiative (food, hygiene box, prescription delivery, telephone befriending)
Our elders advocacy service helped Charles obtain his British passport and make his Windrush Compensation Claim
What is advocacy?
In a nutshell, advocacy is about empowerment and communication. It’s about supporting people who – for whatever reason – find themselves in a situation where they need a bit of extra support to be heard. Our advocacy service supports adults to have their say, helping them to access the knowledge they need to make informed choices about their situation and assisting them to secure their rights.
When can advocacy help?
Advocacy can help in a lot of different situations, because advocacy covers such a broad range of issues.
For example, we do a lot of housing-related advocacy – such as supporting people to communicate with their landlord or housing provider to ensure their rights as tenants are met and their accommodation is suitable and safe.
We support people to appeal welfare benefit decisions such as PIP or ESA and also help people apply for transport support schemes such as Blue Badges.
We have helped those who are bereaved to complete any stressful admin and also help many adults to access social care when experiencing a decline in their health. So whether you want to have a walk-in shower installed or regular care each week, our advocacy service can support you.
These are just a few examples, and there are so many more different life scenarios and situations where advocacy can support people to have a voice!
Information for referral partners
If you’re a community organisation looking to refer a client to one of our services, we’d love to hear from you.
Please use one of the forms below, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible, or contact Clem using the details at the top of the page for more information.